The beginning of the final chapter

I forgot about the blog.

So here I am.

The beginning of this module was all the things- exciting, playful, feared, confusing, settling, peaceful, stressful, overwhelming, and ordinary. The first few weeks were me just settling back into routine. Working as dancer and instructor, for me, means that my life runs in these little blips. Sept-Dec is choreography, resetting in studios, and signing new performance contracts. So adding in the inquiry has been a juggling act.

I began research last week and I have LOVED it. I have really loved the human element of qualitative research. My inquiry is centered around language, and so I have observed classes/rehearsals and then interviewed the leader of the room and the dancers of the room. I am interested in looking at this collection of data in three ways:

1. Leader to Leader. In the various spaces, are those who are leading the room all feelings, speaking, and understanding similar things?

2. Student/Dancer to Student/Dancer. Within the spaces I am researching, are those who are "following" saying similar things in regards to how they understand their lessons?

3. Leader to Student/Dancer. Is what the Leader is saying resonating with the student/dancer? Is this "translation" working within these contexts?

I am still unsure how all the puzzle pieces will fit together but intrigued to continue on.

Comments

Moving away from the "doing".

The "doing". I am an action oriented person, and upon reflection an action oriented learner. It is really difficult for me to stop the "doing" and sit in the reflection without taking action on the "doing better". As I begin to notice the common threads that weave together my "doing" I am able to see these as my learning. But every so often I slip back into focusing on the "doing" and I know this will be my biggest obstacle in writing my AOL's. I am currently working on separating my ideas, literature, illustrations, and quotes into four main areas which will form my four AOL's. I wanted to start with the first draft as requested, but as I started to put together thoughts I started to notice an overlap and bridges from one to another; so to gain clarity I have decided to section out all four and then pick one to draft. The working titles for my four areas of learning are: A Holistic Approach To Curriculum In Dance Empowerment...

Am I am an imposter in my own life?

Even in my own language, I have often felt misunderstood. I have been thinking a lot about language as I move through my AOL's. My parents are English speaking as am I, my Mom is a writer from Toronto, my Dad is a mechanic from Glasgow. Growing up I used words that my friends didn't quite understand (as my Dad had some influence on our Canadian-Scottish verbiage); "Hen" wasn't just a bird, it's a "Bum Bag" never a fanny-pack, and my "Tea" was more than a cup of Tetley. I haven't ever reflected on this, it was always just something that my family did that was "different". I was always described as "full on", "too much", "extreme", "big personality", or a "strong young girl". I knew I was "a lot" and I ran with it. As a dancer I was too muscular, as a fitness trainer I wasn't muscular enough. As a dance teacher I am "too chill", as a yoga teacher I am ...

Wearing multiple hats or one hat?

This past week I had my reflective essay feedback session and review. It was so interesting hearing what Helen had to say in comparison to my questions. Written on my sheet were: * Is my tone academic or juvenile? How to write "I" without sounding like "Gossip Girl xoxo"? * Struggling to separate Somatics- any ideas? * My practice is all three streams- how do I pull this to one if that is not reflective of my practice? Before I read these my feedback was given, and this is what I wrote down from Helen's conversation: * The use of I is imperative, it is after all from your perspective, so the writing matches what has been asked * I am in a Somatics focused MA so I need to pull together my HOW rather than comparing my experience or agreeing to literature, explain more about your feelings or sensation in relationship to these theories. * I am focusing too much on separation, these are not so much 3 different avenues or different hats that I am putting on, they ...

Cael H, MA Somatic Studies

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